Meant To Be (Heaven Hill Series) (20 page)

“I’ll do what I can,” she promised, tightening her grip on Liam’s larger hand that held hers. William scared her – he was so different from his son - she did not want to be on the business end of his fist again.

Liam saw the uncertainty in her eyes as she gazed at his dad. He understood, because sometimes he was just as scared as she appeared to be. Liam pulled her body even with his and put his arm around her neck, tugging her securely to him. “Dad, she’s not a miracle worker. Back off.”

“We don’t need a miracle worker here, we just need to know what the hell’s goin’ on.”

“And we’ll figure that out, just give us some room to work,” Liam brushed past his old man and dragged her along with him.

“I don’t want to get hit by him again,” she whispered as they made their way down the hall.

He growled, looking back to where William still stood outside the main door to the hospital. “He ain’t touchin’ you again. It’ll be alright. You get us what info you can, and we’ll work from there.”

They had arrived at Meredith’s door, and Tyler stepped aside to let her enter. Searching for strength reserves she didn’t know she had, she took a deep breath and walked inside.

Denise had never been in many hospital rooms. The only time she’d ever had an overnight stay was when the twins were born. It looked much different than she remembered. Meredith lay in a bed that looked five sizes too big for her. There was dark bruising on her face and her wrist was wrapped in an ace bandage.

“Are you okay?”

Turning her head to face her visitor, Meredith ran her tongue along dry, cracked, lips. “Yeah, I guess so.”

This was not going to be easy. Apparently the reporter didn’t like to admit when she’d fucked up.

“Who did this?” Denise tried again.

“Would you believe me if I told you I don’t know? I have a contact at the bank, but I don’t know his name. In fact, I’m only assuming it’s a man. He covers up his voice. He’s the one who got me an in with the Vojnik. I might as well have written my own death warrant tonight.”

She winced as she situated herself higher in the bed. While she hadn’t’ been hurt too badly, soreness marked almost every inch of her body.

“Why didn’t you listen to Tyler? He tried to tell you not to do this.”

Anger flashed in Meredith’s eyes. “Why didn’t you listen to me? Besides, how do I know
he
didn’t do this?”

“C’mon, we were all at the clubhouse watching the news when you started talking and the explosion happened. If he was going to do this, why would he warn you? I think we both know that he has more than a passing interest in you. Don’t be stupid, he’s standing outside that door, not allowing anyone in just to keep you safe.”

“Why isn’t Tyler letting people in? Why is it so hard to believe that he did this? He did warn me, but what if the warning wasn’t that? What if it was a threat?” Meredith wrapped her arms around her waist. “I don’t know
who
to trust at this point.”

Denise couldn’t argue with her logic but knew for a fact that the bombing was not Heaven Hill’s doing. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Meredith. You’re a good journalist, and a decent person, but messing with the stuff you are is going to get you hurt worse?”

Trying very hard to keep her composure, Meredith spat back. “Is that a threat?”

“No. Anyone with half a brain can see where this is going. Is being famous and having that ten o’clock job every night worth all of this?” She gestured to the hospital room and bed with her hands. “You have some person feeding you information about
outlaw biker gangs.
There’s a reason they’re outlaws. They don’t play fair. You’re a pawn, and they’re using you to the best of their ability. Do you want to die?” Denise pleaded with her. Surely she was smarter than this.

“No,” she whispered. “But now I don’t know how to get out,” she admitted. “I know so many things, and I don’t know if any of it’s the truth. I know that this was a play on Heaven Hill now, but I didn’t before. It had to be to set them up for something they haven’t done, and I don’t know who did it. I have too many informants, too many contacts.”

“Do you need protection?” Denise asked, feeling weird about asking, but she felt like it was her place to assume, her place as an affiliate with the club to offer.

Meredith thought about the big man who stood guard at her door since she’d been brought in. She wanted him and only him to protect her, but with him came the rest of them. Now wasn’t the time to show anyone just how scared she was.

“No,” she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.

“I’m going to tell them what you’ve told me. It’s some guy at a bank.”

“I know.”

Denise wanted to shake her. It was obvious Meredith wanted help, but she’d be damned if she asked for it. “Do you have anything else you can give me, Meredith? These guys will protect you if you give them a reason to.”

Sighing deeply, she reached her hand out. “My purse is over there under the chair. One of the EMT’s brought it to me.”

Denise handed it to her and waited, impatiently rocking back on her heels. She wanted this over as quickly as possible.

She pulled out a manila envelope, somehow salvaged from the explosion. “This is the information my contacts gave me. I don’t want it anymore. I can’t stop what I’ve already started, but maybe I can keep it from getting worse.”

Denise walked out, envelope in hand. “She gave me what info she has. I’m not sure what’s useful to you, but maybe we can start trying to figure out who’s setting the club up and why.”

Liam kissed her forehead. “Thanks for getting this for us, I know it’s not easy to do this kind of stuff. We really appreciate it. I appreciate it more than I can tell you.” At his hip, his pre-pay buzzed, he flipped it open and read the text he had just received. Cursing loudly, he ran his hands through his hair. “We need to figure this out now.”

“What’s wrong?” Tyler asked, concern etched on his face.

“They just picked up dad. Steele says they’re takin’ him to county lock-up. I’m heading to the clubhouse. You stay here and watch over Meredith. Denise you come with me. Whoever has decided to make us an enemy doesn’t know what match they just lit.”

“Be careful,” Tyler called out.

If there was one thing Liam Walker didn’t stand for, it was someone shitting on his club. Now that they’d picked up the president, Liam looked ready to kill.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“R
ooster, you got nothin’ on me,” William appealed to the young man he’d known since birth. “What you have is a bunch of circumstantial bullshit.”

“Pretty good bullshit though, even you gotta admit that. We have Tyler Blackfoot at Meredith’s house hours before the newscast. What she said implicated your club in the death of a prominent citizen.”

Grinning, William interrupted, “We are Harley enthusiasts.”

“You wanna talk about some bullshit? That’s the biggest load I’ve heard in a while. You’re fingerprints are all over this, William.”

“Then show me. Where are they? What can you pin on me? Because if you can’t, then cut my ass loose.”

Rooster got up from his chair and walked over to the door. “You know what? I think we might have some more questions for you. I can legally hold you for twenty-four hours, and I think that’s what I’m going to do. Maybe I can even dig up an old warrant.”

“Fuck you, Rooster.”

“My name is Officer Hancock, don’t forget it.”

William smirked. “Don’t forget who you’re talkin’ to.”

“I could say the same to you, old man.”

When the door closed, William slammed his head on the table. This was turning into one hell of a clusterfuck.

“They should be setting bail or releasing him within the next few hours. Until that happens, there’s really nothing we can do.”

Liam sighed as he got off the phone with Lee, the club’s attorney. It sucked having your hands tied. He’d called Roni and let her know that their dad had been picked up. Now he sat at the clubhouse trying to make sense out of just what in the hell was going on.

“So, Lee says it’s gonna be a few more hours on the old man. Let’s try and see if we can make heads or tails out of the information Denise got from Meredith.”

“I think we can safely assume that the man feeding her this load of shit is Richard. The question is, why? What’s in it for him?” Steele asked, taking a drag off his cigarette. “I hate to say this, but you know who could probably tell us?”

Liam didn’t want to hear this. “Aww fuck you, not right now. I can’t deal with her right now.”

“I think it’s time we call your mom.”

Lauren Walker was and always had been a sore spot for Liam. The betrayal and hurt of her leaving was a wound that still festered in his chest every time he allowed himself to think about it.

“If we call Lauren, it’s gonna be my sister talking to her. You know I can’t stand her.”

He knew that Roni was outside with Denise watching the kids. Before he asked her to do this, he had to get his emotions under control. Every time his mom was mentioned, he felt like a little kid again. He’d watched her leave that day, and he’d screamed through the door begging her to come back. Not once had she turned around and looked at him. With a sigh, he lit a cigarette and made his way over to where the two women sat.

“I need a favor,” he directed to Roni as he had a seat in between the two of them.

“You always need something. Why should this be any different? What do you want?

“I need you to call Lauren.”

“Are you ever going to call her ‘Mom’ again?” Roni asked. This was a point of contention between the two of them. She had somewhat forgiven their mother, he wasn’t sure he ever would.

“Look, don’t give me any shit,” he snarled. “I don’t like asking you to do this, but you and I both know I can’t talk to her.”

“Can’t or won’t?” she challenged.

Denise looked between the brother and sister, wondering just what had gone on with his mother that caused him so much pain. Behind the harsh words, she could see the eyes of a little boy. She’d seen those eyes on her own son when he spoke of the father he’d never met.

“What do you want me to ask her?” Roni asked, giving in like she always did.

“Thank you. We need to know what exactly Richard had to do with Jeffrey’s death. Obviously he knows something, but I want to know
how
he knows. This was supposedly kept strictly among club officers, and he never was one. Dad had a gag order in place on that shit. Do we have a leak here? Is it a bigger problem than what we think?”